Merry Christmas!

"I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people." Luke 2 v 10

The good news of Christmas is worth celebrating for 3 reasons.

It is personal :"I bring YOU." 


It is positive: "GOOD news of GREAT JOY." 


And it is universal: "for ALL the people."

It doesn't matter who you are, what you've done, 

where you've been, or where you're headed - this news is for you! 

Celebrate!

God loves you! God is with you! God is for you!
excerpt from: "The Purpose of Christmas." Rick Warren
            .

Merry Christmas to all my family and friends!

Here I am..

I'm not the best writer in the world, but I hope I can express in words what I have been feeling in my heart this Christmas.

I love the song: "Humbly you came to the earth you created, all for love's sake became poor. Here I am to worship."

Words that I have sung so many times, but as we prepare for Christmas this year, they touched my heart in a very different way. I was deeply  affected as I got a picture in my mind. There you are Sovereign, Almighty God, Your Majesty, you  created everything, and it was good! (Genesis) Then I read Job 38 & 39, "The LORD speaks." You created every single thing on this earth, and above it, and could have chosen all kinds of riches for your only Son. 

You know as a mother of two and grandmother of five, I remember how excited I was over the birth of each one of my children. I realized the miracle of each life, with the words of Psalm 139 echoing in my heart, overflowing with joy and gratitude for each one of them. I  wanted the very best of everything for them - especially for my firstborn, my son David. Expectant parents usually prepare for the birth of their babies with great excitement and anticipation, maybe painting the nursery, getting the tiny clothes ready, toys, baby shower..... everything is new, clean and sterile. 

How different was the birth of your Son Father God. You chose for your only Son to be born in a lowly stable among animals, and strangers. Mary didn't even have her family close by.

King of Kings and Lord of Lords,

as we prepare to celebrate the birth of Jesus this year,  as we decorate our homes and trees, face the crowded stores for gifts, not to mention face the traffic!, I stop for a moment to reflect on what I can give to you for Christmas. What do you want for your birthday Jesus? What can I offer you? You created everything, you own everything, what can I get for you on my humble budget? 


Jesus, here I am. This is my offering. I give you my life, after all, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't know life at all. You gave me the gift of life, of love, of freedom. Your birth, life and death were humble. You gave it all, for all mankind, forever. Thank you for giving your life so that I may live. Help me to give it back to you wholeheartedly. I want to find your heart so I can get lost in it LORD. This is my desire.


Thank you for the gift of Salvation. Happy Birthday Jesus!

KJV Dictionary Definition: humble

humble

HUM'BLE, a. L. humilis.

1. Low; opposed to high or lofty.

2. Low; opposed to lofty or great; mean; not magnificent; 

3. Lowly; modest; meek; submissive; opposed to proud,haughty, arrogant or assuming. 

God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble. James 4

HUM'BLE, v.t. To abase; to reduce to a low state. 

1. To crush; to break; to subdue.

2. To mortify.

3. To make humble or lowly in mind; to abase the pride of; to reduce arrogance and self-dependence;  to make meek and submissive to the divine will

Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you. 1 Pet.5.

Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart. 2 Chron. 32.

4. To make to condescend.

He humbles himself to speak to them.

5. To bring down; to lower; to reduce.

The highest mountains may be humbled into valleys.

6. To deprive of chastity. Deut. 21.

To humble one's self, to repent; to afflict one's self for sin; to make contrite.

humbly

HUM'BLY, adv. In a humble manner; with modest submissiveness; with humility.

1. In a low state or condition; without elevation.

adjective.  modest - lowly - meek - submissive - unassuming - low verb.  humiliate - abase - mortify - lower - degrade - demean

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving dear family and friends!

Feliz dia de gracia!

                                      Yes, this is a real (dead) stuffed turkey!

Our Kinderangels each made a feather with drawings of some of the things they are thankful for. Sooo cute!

Life in Nicaragua, on less than $2 per day.

Check out this newsflash on Nicaragua, interesting and true.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/multimedia/nic_1026/4.html

Elections.

Written while waiting for a ride to church:

We are being called to a new level of Faith. Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. Abraham believed, although he couldn't see, and it was credited to him as righteousness.

LORD, give us a double portion of Faith, to believe you. Not just to believe in you, for even the enemy believes you exist, but help us to believe you are who you say you are: Sovereign and Almighty God,  and that you can do what you say you can do. 

We are not here by accident today, we have been called here by name by our Father in Heaven, to Praise Him. Not only because He is worthy of our Praise and because we love Him, but also to break through the powers of darkness for this Nation. The LORD inhabits the praises of His people. Where God's people are praising Him and declaring their love for Him and standing firmly in Faith, united as a church body, the enemy must flee. He cannot stand to be in the presence of worshipers. 

Our praise today needs to come from deep within us, on a new level. I pray for an increase of Faith and believe and trust that God can do what seems impossible here on earth.

Let's get our hearts right before The LORD today. Let's pray for the youth in todays rallies, pray for their hearts. Many are taking part in these rallies to feel like they belong, they crave a sense of purpose and want a "cause" to fight for.They were not created for violence and fighting. We need to forgive them ahead of time for what they may do throughout the elections. Pray that they may realize God's perfect plan for their lives, and the purpose for which He created them.

May God's word come to pass when He says: "Ask and I will give the Nations to you." Almighty, Sovereign God, Father in Heaven, we ask you today to give us the Nation of Nicaragua, for your Glory. And whether we see it today, tomorrow or in years to come, help us to believe your Word and live in Hope that every knee in Nicaragua shall bow down to you. For Hope does not disappoint us , God has poured out His love into our hearts by The Holy Spirit who He has given us. 

I encourage you to exercise your Faith this day, and Praise and Worship God wholeheartedly with your life from this very moment. So that His Glory and Honor will be revealed through our lives. 

In the precious and powerful name of Jesus, name above all names, Amen

October rains...

Rains Trigger State of Emergency in Nicaragua

Managua -  With more rain forecast for the Pacific, central, and western regions of Nicaragua, President Daniel Ortega declared a state of national emergency in recent hours to cope with the immediate needs of thousands of people affected, and to arrange additional resources to mitigate and control the effects of the intense rains in the country.

Since Oct. 10, several Nicaraguan localities, particularly in the Pacific and northern regions, have reported severe environmental and economic damage, as well as human losses.

According to official estimates, 133,858 people have been affected nationwide, with the greatest devastating effects in the departments of Chinandega, Leon, Managua, Esteli, Nueva Segovia and Madriz, Carazo, Rivas, Masaya, Granada, and Rivas.

Following the president's directions, the ministries and state-run entities must act immediately to repair the damage caused to communications, houses and infrastructure works such as electricity networks and aqueducts.

He also ordered to prioritize the restoration of basic services, and maintain in operation the Committees for Prevention, Mitigation and Attention to Disasters to guarantee adequate attention to the evacuees at more than 90 shelters.

Though rains have eased up in the latest hours, the Nicaraguan president called on the population to remain alert, because the most important thing is to preserve human lives.

Ancianos Coronados celebrate Nicaragua's Independence Day!

Covenant Church Managua runs a feeding program for folks 60 and over. Every Wednesday and Friday we serve about 100 meals and once a month on a Saturday we have a special celebration with them also. It is a a time for sharing God's Word, Praise and Worship and prayers throughout the outreach. As a Grandma to 5 very special angels, I am blessed share "nieto" stories with many of the Grandparents here.

The Nicaraguan Flag flies proudly from the treetop.

What a shame to cut such a beautiful cake. It was delicious though, and it was divinely multiplied, enough for more than 100 people!

This is the humble kitchen where the food is prepared. One day we hope to have a Center for the elderly/Ancianos Coronados, where we can provide a hot meal for them every day and enjoy other fellowship activities too like games, hairdressing, manicures, and all that good funstuff!

Feliz Dia de la Patria at NCA!!

Our cute Kinder angels at Nicaragua Christian Academy celebrated in style/full Nican costumes and dancing followed by typico comida.

Education for this Nation.

Heavenly Father, of all knowledge, wisdom and truth, we thank you for sending your only Son, Jesus, the first teacher, to teach us the way to you. 

Father God, we pray for all those who are in authority in this nations’ education system. May there be a move of your grace and power among those in leadership positions. May they be brought to their knees to honor you and do what is right in your sight. We pray that even now you are working in their hearts so they can make decisions with your guidance. 

Father God, we lift up to you all the institutions of learning here in Nicaragua/the universities, schools, pre schools, home schools, church schools and daycares, anywhere that learning is taking place.

LORD there are schools here with plenty, and there are schools here in need. There are schools with dirt floors and only plastic tarps for walls to protect the students and teachers from the weather. There are schools where if the children do not bring their own chair, they will have no where to sit once they arrive. Father I have seen children so physically hungry that they cannot even begin to think about learning to read and write. Father God, you have seen it too, these are your children, this is your Nation and we stand firm in our faith that you have a plan for your people here in Nicaragua. We pray for provision, that all children will have an opportunity to get an education, that  you will open up the heavens and pour out your abundant blessings on our places of learning, and all who pass through them. May our schools be a safe place to be, with an atmosphere of discipline, peace and order that encourages our children to live according to Your Word.  We pray that it will not stop at the schools,  but be carried into the homes and passed on to build up communities who love you LORD and will advance Your Kingdom of justice, love and peace.

We pray that the teachers will have a “God perspective”, and see the students as you see them LORD. Give each teacher a renewed passion for teaching, give them strength, energy and creativity in methods and lesson plans in order to encourage each child to reach their full potential and become who you created them to be. May they be filled with Your love and patience to equip the children with spiritual discernment and moral courage as well as academic excellence so they can impact society through Christian living motivated by a heartfelt love for you.

Father God, we praise you for we are fearfully and wonderfully made. You have created us with a wonderful capacity to learn on many levels/practical, social, cultural, intellectual and spiritual, may we continue to learn throughout our lives until we arrive at the full knowledge of You.

Eph. 4v20 “Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work in us, to Him be glory in our schools the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever, Amen.”

God can.....

...   achieve extraordinary things using ordinary people.

Like you and me!


Here I am LORD, I am yours.   


Thank you that we can be co-laborers with you LORD.
                                                      

Give us your perspective.


Let's advance your Kingdom here on earth.


May your will be done, not ours.

Ruby and Luviana

Meet 2 of the girls at the children's home in El Crucero...

13 year old Ruby



Ruby and Luviana



Ruby loves life and has the most contagious giggle!!!

Luviana, I am so proud of you. You are learning so much so quickly now you are at school!

The simple things in life.

I spent the day at home today. 

What a luxury! I haven't had a day at home for so long! 

I listened to praise and worship music as I organised my things and tidied the house. 

And sometimes, I just sat still , just because I could! I enjoyed the quiet. The song of the birds outside and the chuckle of the gekkos inside. 

I prayed as I worked, and journalled some too. Not wanting to forget the pleasures of the simple things in life.

Oh the joy of sleeping in past 5 am!

Oh the fulfilment in catching enough rainwater to do a machine load of laundry and water the indoor plants. Hey, rainwater is free, directly from heaven! And if you leave it outside in the 5 gallon bottle long enough, it gets warm in the sun so you can actually do a warm wash! :)

Oh the delight in picking lemons off the tree in the garden and making fresh lemonade. Yummm, what a reward after moving all that furniture around to re-do the house, in the heat of the day. 

Oh to throw caution to the wind and sing at the top of your voice without disturbing anyone.

And to shed a few tears in private from the sorrows of the world, but being comforted and lifted up by The One and only I AM.

I AM.
I AM always here for you. Always have been, always will be.


Thank you Father God, for spending the day at home with me today!

Reflections in Ft Lauderdale

Here I am at Fort Lauderdale airport waiting for a flight that has been delayed at least 4 hours.

That’s OK. God is in control. The older I get the easier it is to say that! I booked a midnight flight, got to the airport 3 hours ahead of time to be prepared, to check in my luggage, get a good seat and make sure everything is in order for the flight. Don’t want to miss the flight, just paid $400 for the ticket! Today was my last day in USA. My focus has been to get ready for this trip back to Nicaragua. Last minute phone calls, last minute errands, oh and packing my suitcase, which can now only be 40lbs. Not enough, I had to get online quickly and book an extra suitcase, so I could bring 80 lbs! Anyway, my focus today has been The Trip. Getting ready, doing what I needed to do in order for it to go smoothly and successfully, for 2 reasons, 1) I want to get back to Nicaragua and 2) I don’t want to lose my $400 investment in the ticket.


So here I am at the airport waiting, I am not in control, no matter how much I plan, things change.


As I reflect on this, the question that comes to mind is how much do we focus on our spiritual journey? That trip has also been paid for. More than $400!! The Life of Jesus was the price. We belong to Him now. Our lives should reflect His Glory and bring honor to His name. Our main focus needs to be on doing what we need to do in order to stay on the path that God has prepared for us. God’s trip!


Backing up a little, the Pastor of my church in Nicaragua has been teaching recently about being led by The Holy Spirit. I remember one particular Sunday he acted out an example of life being led by The Spirit. He put his arm around the shoulders of one of the men in the congregation and walked him around the church saying, “Oh, don’t go that way, it’s dangerous there, go over here, there’s a blessing for you here.”, and “Wait, come here first, there’s someone who needs you to pray for them….” And so on. I thought that looks fantastic, I want that! What do I have to do in order to achieve that kind of guidance? Well, our Pastor didn’t leave us there hanging, he continued the lessons on how to lead a Spirit filled life.


In Psalm 27 David asked the LORD for “one thing” it was an all encompassing “one thing”, and so was mine… as we entered our 40 days of fasting and praying together as a church body my “one thing” was to draw closer to God and have a deeper understanding of who The Holy Spirit is in my life. As I fasted that was my prayer, and as The Holy Spirit began to reveal Himself to me, with specific words, and specific directions about what to do in a given situation, just like the example our Pastor had given us, and I wanted more. I wanted to be even closer, so I stepped up my fasting and prayer time. I wanted to crucify my flesh and live by The Spirit. As I heard more and more from The Holy Spirit and as I followed His directions, I was blessed beyond my imaginings. I started to list all of the blessings, but there was no way I could keep up with God and all that he had for me. Each blessing could be at least a 20 minute story, so I can’t go into all the details, but they were extravagant and rich, much more than I could ever ask or imagine.


Living a life led by The Spirit is amazing, I am learning to see God’s hand at work in everything, even this four hour delay at the airport, is God saying: “Hey, I’ll give you free internet, get to work on all those emails you are behind on, then when you get back to the house, the one I provided for you, you can spend time with me. I’ve got more to show you, more to tell you.


I am at peace here in the presence of The LORD.


Thanks to Spirit Air for the flight and the offer of worldly rewards, non transferrable, I won’t settle for that, I’d rather fly with the one and only Holy Spirit and receive the rewards that are valid for an eternity, no restrictions, no blackout dates!


God wants to lavish His blessings on us, much more than we could ever ask or imagine. So much so, that, as a Prophet I recently met said, ‘The fat will be falling off you onto those around you and you cannot help but be a blessing to others!”
That’s where I want to be. Thank you LORD!

Covenant Church Managua celebrates Children's Day!

I am grateful to have been planted in Covenant Church Managua for this season of life! I love all the community outreaches and activities that we do together as a church family.


Many thanks to all who worked so hard to make Nicaragua's Children's Day very special. We celebrated it in Managua on Saturday and up in Diriamba with our sister church on Sunday. 


The smiles from the little ones say it all. :)


I hope you are able to open the link and see the photos:


Share this album with anyone by sending them this public link:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1956152258101.2113988.1071554244&l=9a2393357b

pictures, at last!

The miracle of a new life never ceases to amaze me. LORD you are good!




Baby Selah Grace, 1 day old. Born to a scared young girl of 13 years old who had been raped by a 70 year old.

 

By grace, placed in a Christian home to be loved and cherished as she deserves.



Your life is in God's hands little one.



I just LOVE this photo of her, at just a day old! Beautiful!



Go girls!



7 year old Luviana has one false eye and is almost blind in the other, but nothing stops her from climbing and exploring. She is one brave little angel!

Five of the younger children having dinner together :)

13 year old Ruby weighs about 19 lbs and is not yet able to walk. She loves to sing and listen to music. She sure knows how to enjoy Praise and Worship with us!



Hang in there Luviana!!




Luvniana and Somari having fun!



Holy Spirit

RAIN, Rain, rain!!

After months of no rain in our dry season here in Nicaragua, we celebrated the first heavy rainfall this Rainy Season!! (Yes, it did rain a little a few days ago, but ended all too soon.) (Oh yes, and the outrageously curious hail storm a couple of weeks ago!! hmmm, explain that one with temps up to 103 degrees?!)

Well, last night we had a great, heavy downpour. Hallelujah!!! I was up at the orphanage in El Crucero, and the children were so excited! There has not been a supply of clean running water at the home for about two months now. We have had to fill up buckets and barrels from the end of the street, or drive down to get it in town by the barrels. After going to flush a toilet for so many weeks with nothing happening or turning on the taps for a shower with no results it was such an extravagance for the children to go outside last night and enjoy their first shower in ages! (They have been bathed in the mean time!) It warmed my heart to see their excitement as they went out with their shampoo - they were all smiles. I wish I had been able to capture it with my camera; it was a truly precious sight!

On the subject of rain, and my prayers for The Holy Spirit to reign/ rain down on us, I woke up this morning with a longing to see The Holy Spirit. I have an image in my mind about how God The Father looks, and of how God The Son, Jesus, looks, but The Holy Spirit, hmm, I wasn't getting a picture at all. I confess to actually doing a Google search for descriptions of The Holy Spirit. There were several responses posted, but there was one that caught my attention. Below is an excerpt from it, and a photo I'd like to share with you that gave me a mental image of The Holy Spirit. Mighty and Powerful, flowing freely, cleansing, refreshing, and providing life. As we move into our Rainy Season, I pray for an outpouring of The Holy Spirit, a harvest of Souls for God's Kingdom, a revival in the church for God's people. I will be reminded of this with every drop of rain that falls.

"God described the restoration of His people using the language of rain to illustrate the work of the Spirit: “For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants” (Isa. 44:3, NIV; cf. Eze. 39:29; Isa. 32:15; 44:3). In Joel, after announcing the coming of the early and latter rains, God added, “I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions" (Joel 2:28, 29, NIV). "

Praise be to God! May your will be done, not mine. Amen!

technical difficulties...

Well my friends, I have tried to sit down and write an update for so long now, without success thus far. It has been one thing after another. 


We have had several power outages again recently and lots of problems with internet access.


There was a really bad accident at the bottom of my road last night. A semi truck was flying down the hill without brakes and ended up crashing into a shopping strip mall. As I drove by shortly after the accident, the mess was indescribable, mangled cars and lamposts/powerposts knocked down, sidewalk all cut up, a dreadful mess! We learned this morning that 6 people died.  News reported that the driver of the truck had just called home to tell his family the brakes were not working and he is quoted to have said, "I am going to die tonight, I have no brakes on this truck!" SO sad. We have been praying for his family and the others who lost their lives in this tragic accident. One of the 3rd grade students told me that God would find a way to make something good come out of it. Yes LORD, we pray for your goodness, grace and mercy to shine through. May it be a reminder to us not to take any chances in our vehicles. If something needs fixing, fix it! It is not only your life at stake but the others around us at the time. Don't gamble with life.



Now my trusted friend, my laptop, is failing me. It keeps shutting itself off mid word and not saving anything in memory!! Yikes!!!!!!!!!!    I have re written some emails 3 times before finally getting a shortened, snappy version of my intended message sent out. Will send this out asap just in case!



My heart has been to share news and photos of what has been going on around here these past couple of  hot and dusty months. Alas, all the pics are (temporarily I hope) lost in the darkness of my dead laptop, which I shall call Lazarus for now. I do believe it will come back to life long enough for me to get all my pics back!



Last Saturday, I went up to the orphanage in El Crucero again to cook our famous spaghetti dinner for 35 people. It went well, even with the challenges of no running water. Makes doing dishes afterwards a little challenging, not to mention cleaning all those spaghetti hands and faces afterwards! 



The weekend before, I went straight after work at 2:30 pm and spent the weekend up there so that the house mum could take a weekend off to go on a ladies retreat. Thank you LORD for faithful friends who came up with me to share the workload. Many hands make light work, and more fun!!!! One of the young girls, Joselyn, 14 years old, was released from hospital that day after having a c-section. She had been raped by a 70 year old and got pregnant. She did not want anything to do with the baby: Selah Grace,a healthy little girl at 5 lbs 18"long. Selah was taken immediately by a Christian family from USA who will care for her here in Nicaragua. Joselyn slept with me the 1st few nights incase she needed anything. She did remarkably well, obviously bathed in prayers. Thank you to all you faithful prayer warriors who cover us all in times like these. I truly believe it makes a difference.



Our next prayer is that the water problem is sorted out up there soon! It is hard looking after 16 children without running water. And 4 of us came back with a nasty 24 hour stomach bug. Thank goodness we all made a speedy recovery and that the children were OK.



13 year old Ruby had another seizure last week. She spent the night in hospital and was put on medicine for epilepsy. Praying for recovery for little Ruby too. I want to include pics of her, (I hope I can add them later.) She is 13 years old and weighs about 16 lbs. She cannot walk and her legs are so thin. She doesn't seem to want to eat much either, is really only fond of her gallo pinto, (beans and rice) so it is a challenge to get her to eat! Ofelia was the same when she first came to Managua too though. Almost 4 years old with the appearance of a 4 month old baby. She had been discarded as handicapped and the authorities said she would never walk, and doubted if she would even survive. Well, you should see her now! She runs around and climbs up on everything. I told Ruby she would be right there with her soon!



LORD God you are so awsome. I thank you that you allow us to be even a small part in the lives of these children. That we can be co-laborers with you. I see your hand at work all around me. Even in the difficult and challenging circumstances. You are always with us, you have promised never to leave us or forsake us. I truly believe your Word Father God and stand firm on it's truth.



As the moments rapidly pass by, with the ever increasing threat of blackout, I shall end here and hit the publish button. I hope it gets to you wherever you are. I want to keep in touch as best I can,
hugs and blessings galore,
love always in Christ xxx